• Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    7 months ago

    Where did you get this from? Yeah KiB means 1024 and KB is 1000 but that’s not a difference between metric and imperial, judging from the Wikipedia article it seems it was just a matter of using 1024 for technical purposes and 1000 for marketing / simplicity. If anything the article says the metric systems(SI) rule of kilo meaning 1000 means KB is metric.

    If anything this shows some of the weakness of metric and it’s use of base 10. Yeah it works great in science and some math when we’re usually talking in base 10, but that’s not the only base you can use. In base 2 some of the imperial measurements are easier to deal with and convert between then metric for example

    1 liter = 1111101000 ml 1 gallon = 10000000 fl oz

    1 kg = 1111101000 g 1 pound = 10000 oz

    The reverse of the above metric conversions, and all base 10 negative exponents, is a repeating number in binary which has to be truncated and leads to inaccurate calculations.

    Systems of measure are arbitrary, there’s no superior logical one because different systems of measure work better in different systems of math.